[Katherine Swift]

This question comes from Matt:

Hello I’m looking to purchase some resin for you very soon I just have a couple questions that I’m confused about which resin might work best for me ? Basically I’m looking to combine resin and wood to make jewelry however I’m looking to, when dry sand the piece down with facets sort of like a diamond,but in the past I know that sometimes even if I had let it cure for a few days when sanding on a belt sander or some sort of power tool, the resin does not stay hard. I’m assuming because of the excessive heat. Is there a particular resin that is better for this method like epoxy, polyurethane,acrylic,polyester etc. ? Or am I just out of luck ? Thanks for your help

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Matt,

If you are using epoxy resin for your wood pieces, it will not withstand the heat of a belt sander. Unfortunately, the softening you see happens pretty commonly. Polyester resin cures hard enough for use with rotary tools, but the shrinkage after curing generally makes it unsuitable for use with wood. Your best bet would be a polyurethane resin.

[Julia Fleming]

I am using a Barton epoxy resin with wood. Pouring into shallow forms then cutting with a hacksaw, grinding shapes on a bench grinder and finally sanding with wet sandpaper. BUT, I would like to know if there is a better method. It takes several hours to cut and shape.

[Katherine Swift]

I don’t necessarily know that there is a step you can cut out. You could possibly use a sanding and/or buffing tool instead of sanding/finishing by hand.

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